The Disagreement

by Nick Taylor

It is April 17, 1861—the day that Virginia secedes from the Union and the sixteenth birthday of John Alan Muro. As the Commonwealth erupts in celebration, young Muro sees his dream of attending medical school in Philadelphia shattered by the sudden reality of war.

Muro’s father, believing that the Disagreement will pass, sends his son instead to Charlottesville. Jefferson’s forty-year-old University of Virginia has become a haven of rogues and dilettantes, among them Muro’s roommate, Braxton Baucom III, a planter’s son who attempts to strike a resemblance to General “Stonewall” Jackson. Though the pair toasts lightheartedly “To our studies!” with a local corn whiskey known as “The Bumbler,” the war effort soon exerts a sobering influence. Medical students like Muro are pressed into service at the Charlottesville General Hospital, where the inexperienced Dr. Muro saves the life of a Northern lieutenant, earning the scorn of his peers.

As the war progresses, Muro takes up yet another cause—winning the affections of the beguiling Miss Lorrie Wigfall. Here, too, Muro faces a cunning adversary. Just as the fighting is closing in, Muro is forced to make a choice that will shape the rest of his life. In this story of love, loyalty, and unimaginable sacrifice, a doctor struggles to balance the passions of youth with the weight of responsibility.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, American Civil War, Civil War, Medicine, Family, Romance

368 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2008

About the author

Nick Taylor's debut novel, The Disagreement, was published by Simon & Schuster in 2008. He has received fellowships from the Virginia Commission for the Arts and the William R. Kenan, Jr., Trust for Historic Preservation. A graduate of the MFA program at the University of Virginia, he is Assistant Professor of English and Comparative Literature at San Jose State University and lives in the Bay Area.

Reviews

[Christine]

I wrote this review for Amazon... hence the more formal tone than my usual write-ups

Nick Taylor's debut is a rare find--a compelling tale of the civil war from the civilian perspective. John Muro arrives at the University of Virginia to begin his medical studies sure of his convictions and beliefs--and as the war wages on he begins to question the fervor he first felt upon hearing news of secession. By focusing on the home front, the female characters are just as prominent (and engaging) as their male counterparts---thank you, Mr. Taylor. At its core, this book tells the universal story of a boy struggling to define himself--in school, in love, and in life. I've already recommended this book to several of my friends--and think it will be especially attractive to any UVA alums as an opportunity to be transported back to linger in the pavilion gardens, encounter Muro's raucous classmates, and learn more about the Charlottesville of the 1860s.

[Scot]

A charming first novel on a fascinating topic--what was it like to be a first year student at the University of Virginia, interested in a career in medicine, in 1861? The chapters are many and usually quite short, so it reads a bit like a screenplay with dialogue rather than a more conventional work of historical fiction. I found myself caught up in the drama of the characters' lives, and the hero's girlfriend and college roommate were both intriguing in their capabilities and activities. The most interesting components for me were the description of the situation for the patients in the university's emergency hospital wards, wounded or suffering soldiers, and the strategies the staff adopted to cope as wartime made medical supplies increasingly scarce. The epilogue suggests what happened to all central characters from the vantage of many years later, and for some reason brought to my mind both the end of the Harry Potter series and a biography on the artist Thomas Eakins I read many years ago--the former, because of tone and tying up loose ends, the latter for the inclusion of both Dr. Gross and oarsmen on the Schuylkill.

[Hank]

This was an engaging look at the experience of a doctor in Charlottesville during the Civil War. Having some knowledge and experience myself with the area (Orange, my home town was mentioned because of its importance as a railway junction), images of the University of Virginia and the surrounding counties were natural. What I found so delightful was the way the author captured the style, vocabulary and candence of the speech of Virginians at that time (many hints of which still prevade our local tongue). A story of deprivation, hardship, challenge, defeat, and success in the face of the tragedy of the war, it made we rethink my deep roots in Virginia and my own experience of living in the south, a land I love in spite of its history of oppression and abuse.

[Caroline]

I picked up this book purely by the cover. For some reason I thought it would be dry but from the first couple of paragraphs, I couldn't put it down. The prose and pacing made it a delight to read. I finished it in one flight to California. I found myself not liking the ending but then I realized I didn't like it because I didn't want the book to end. I wanted to know more about what happened.

[Jennifer Kim]

I started this book a couple of months ago and just now finished it (I read multiple books at the same time). The fact that it took this long for me to finish says something about how it really wasn't grabbing me, but the fact that I finished it all says that it still had something that gave me hope. The thing is...it got better then the ending just utterly disappointed me. I'm not sure what the main character was feeling or what the author was trying to say.

I did find some aspects of the book interesting - such as the Confederate doctors resorting to using herbal remedies to treat patients because they had run out of medicine.

I think this book would have been a lot more interesting had he taken the route he had been planning to take, then having to live with the consequences of his actions.... The worst part of it was, I can't figure out how he feels about being where he ended up.

After all the positive endorsements, I do feel quite let down.

I wouldn't read it again. I would only recommend it to the most ardent Civil War history buffs.

[Donna]

A different book about the Civil War. Told through the eyes of a young man who attended the University of Virginia's medical school during the conflict, it focuses on the homefront experiences of Southerners during the war rather than military movements and battles. Living in Virginia, I am familiar with the university and much of the area in which this story takes places and I enjoyed this book very much.

[L J]

Having moved to Virginia and always having enjoyed history, I really enjoyed this work of historical fiction. Taylor does a great job of bringing you into the times without truely depressing the reader. He also does a very good job of character development. You don't always agree with or even like the protagonists. A good story and a good read.

[Hal]

The American Civil War

[Julia Nixon]

I enjoyed reading this well written and well researched novel that tells the story of a young man from Lynchburg becomes a doctor I Charlottesville during the Civil War.

[Peter McGinn]

I liked the plot and the writing style of this book. I have had an interest in the Civil War my entire adult life, and the plot struck me as somewhat original. The style uses short chapters and a structure that is easy to read. I must confess I found a few elements of the novel a bit mystifying, however. The chemistry between the two main characters felt strong to me from the first and for quite a while, but I never quite understood their later arguments. They seem to be his fault in that while he appears to be crazy about her and thinks she's the bee's knees, he doesn't pay her much attention at times and lets time pass between seeing her. I vaguely sensed it was his work that caused the rift, but his feelings could have been made more clear. Coupled with decisions he made about his family back home and - late in the book - plans he formulated about what to do with his life - he came off as a rather unlikable character to me, and I don't think that was the intention. I believe that delving deeper into his emotions, struggles with his workload, mixed feelings about the war, and confusion over his motivations might have brought him more into focus and therefore more likable. And without revealing what he decided to do at the end of the book, I think the ending felt a bit rushed and unemotional. It was presented in a matter-of-fact way when I think more passion or even a flashback of how he and his lady ended up where they did could have helped greatly giving the story more closure. Still, I had no trouble finishing the book despite those weaknesses.

[Kathy Apple]

The best part of this Historical Novel was the descriptions of the medical issues/conditions of the Confederacy. The story, however, was frustrating and not satisfying on any level. The "lady of interest" wasn't interesting at all and just plain annoying and I could not understand what possible interest our "hero" (the medical student/doctor) could have in her.

I love both non-fiction and fiction relating to the Civil War but this book took several starts for me to finally get moving on it to the point that I could actually finish it. Several times I almost gave up on it and after finally finishing the book I mostly wish I had not taken the time. Except for the interesting medical information relating to the Confederacy, this is not a book I would recommend.

[Nick Lanzetta]

Not really sure what I was expecting from this but it was alright. It kept me interested enough but it really wasn't all that great. It tells the story of John, who goes to Charleston to study to be a doctor during the Civil War. I didn't really like the main characters all that much and some of their actions had me shaking my head. The setting of the novel was great and I loved learning about life during the Civil War. It was interesting because I had never read anything during that time period that wasn't directly about the war and this is what kept me reading until the end. The insights into college life and medicine during that time were also fascinating.

[Steven]

I very much enjoyed this book. The author I believe very much captured the hardships of the Confederate medical profession during the civil war. I will be suggesting this book to some of my friends.

[Renee]

Interesting view of the Civil War.

[Kendrice]

2.5, the end was better than the beginning, but I don’t recommend it

[Rosie]

A very readable Civil War tale

[Soho_Black]

I don't know a huge amount about the American Civil War, other than that the South seems to have come out of it with the best accents and the better music. In contrast, they do appear to have the worst of the weather, when you consider hurricanes in Florida and the events in New Orleans a few years ago. Given that neither accents nor the weather tend to play a huge part in a novel, "The Disagreement" was going to be something different from anything I know.

John Alan Muro is a young boy when Virginia secedes from the Union and soon becomes embroiled in Civil War. Having scorned young John Alan's decision to become a doctor before the war his father, himself a former doctor turned mill owner, sends him off to the University of Virginia to avoid him being called up to the army and suffering the fate of a cousin, who returned from the war with a missing leg. John Alan has had to adjust his dreams as well, wanting to go to a better medical college, but with all of them being in the Northern states, he has to settle for what he can get.

Once at University, John Alan finds out a lot more about life in general and even more about how hard life can be when you're on the losing side in a war. He is quickly thrust into service as a doctor, even before he has finished his training and he struggles to heal the sick and wounded with the hospital's drug supplies dwindling. Fortunately, there is Lorrie Wigfall, the niece of one of John Alan's tutors, who makes life easier to bear. But as John Alan becomes closer to his patients, particularly to one of his enemy, he becomes more estranged from his family.

Despite the interesting sounding concept, of hospital work with the Civil War in the background, the novel didn't really deliver as much as I'd hoped. The war is usually a long way away and only affects John Alan in the slightest of ways, with him seeing what has happened on the front, but never having any actual involvement. He gets news of the war and he treats the casualties of war, but the fighting itself is never real to him, or to us. Names from the history books sometimes get mentioned to authenticate the setting, but the real fighting is so distant that the reader is often able to forget that it's going on at all.

The whole novel has this same very basic feel. Although this is largely John Alan's story, there is a fairly large cast of characters, but none of them are particularly well drawn. Even before he's become sensitised to his patients, you never get a feeling that John Alan feels anything for what he's witnessing. This is even more obvious during his romance with Lorrie Wigfall, as there was so little obvious emotion that I wasn't sure if either of them were really in love. The ease with which John Alan distanced himself from his family was cold and hard as well which, had it been set up better, could have shown how the war had changed him, but here just made him seem like someone unable to feel.

The story generally lacked a lot of depth. There is potentially a very wide story here, with John Alan's struggles to treat patients and the romance with Lorrie to the forefront. These parts take a kind of priority, but there are also hints of John Alan's relationship with his family and with his roommate that could have developed into something more, but were left behind. For much of the novel, it feels like Taylor has plenty ion hand, but just didn't have the time or the talent to fit it all in. With so much happening and with the backdrop of the Civil War, this could quite easily have become another "Gone With the Wind", but Taylor touched on so much only so briefly that it feels more like a breeze; something you can feel, but which ends up having no real impact on you.

To Taylor's credit, however, this is a very readable story. Given that it's written in the more formal style of English that would have been in use at the time, I didn't really expect that, but the style of language had virtually no effect on the story at all that I could discern. Particularly early on, he writes in quite short chapters similar to James Patterson, which keeps the pages turning and I found myself a long way into the book before I realised it. Unfortunately, I suspect that's because very little of the story stood out and wasn't something that requires the reader to concentrate terribly hard. It's not a bad read if all you're looking for is something to pass the time, but it has so little impact you may end up reading it without knowing exactly what it is you're reading.

This review may also appear, in whole or in part, under my name at any or all of www.ciao.co.uk, www.thebookbag.co.uk, www.goodreads.com, www.amazon.co.uk and www.dooyoo.co.uk

[Caroline]

1) This author apparently loves the world 'prurient'.
2) I will need someone to tell me about this so called 'unimaginable sacrifice' per the book description, I missed it.
3) None of the characters were likable. They were silly and fickle.

I didn't think I'd get through this book. John Allen's pattern of speech was just.. well it sounded like something you'd hear on Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. "Indeed," i said, "I was just wondering if this quince were barren. Is there anything sadder than a barren quince." Sissy. I really hope that wasn't true-to-era speech.

John was a pampered little sissy who stays at school chasing behind this equally pampered, vacuous, arrogant girl (Lorrie) who leads him by the nose. While his father is ill (he doesn't even return home to see to him). While the family business goes down the flusher (he returns home to tell his father, basically, that he is a liar and a loser and storms back off to school). John's biggest worries are: the slope of Lorrie's shoulders, impressing Dr Cabble, the powder on women's faces, maintaining decorum.

The war only comes in three ways: how it affects his family at home (whom John cuts off for a spell, lying to Lorrie during there marriage that they didn't want to come when he never invited them), the soldiers who come into the hospital and the slackening supplies (where John works), and Lorrie and all the ruffly lady hens who want to throw parties to 'raise morale' but have trouble getting their hands on certain commodities.

Other than that, what would John care? Borrowing his room mate BB's fancy clothes, purebred horses, and sleighs. Sleigh rides and picnics with Lorrie, nut cakes for her family. Money is never an issue for him. And BB has more than enough money (and generosity) to go around. His life is pretty insulated. He never serves in the war or has to worry about serving because his Dad purchased a commutation (John's father paid the government $500 bucks so John could evade the draft).

[Bill Glose]

Though this book uses the medical school and the Civil War as backdrops, it does not detail the fighting of particular battles or go into depth on medical procedures. This is more a coming-of-age story where the central character, John Alan Muro, turns 16 on the same day that Virginia votes to secede from the Union: April 17, 1861. In an attempt to shield him from conscription, his father sends him off to the University of Virginia to become a doctor. Soon after, the Charlottesville Hospital is overflowing with wounded soldiers and the university’s medical students are pressed into duty as doctors, ready or not. At the age of 17, Muro is put in charge of a ward filled with critically injured patients. Making matters worse is the dwindling supply of medical supplies due to the naval blockade. When the medicine finally runs out, the doctors begin treating patients with a botanical formulary composed of plants from nearby fields and gardens.

The story is an interesting read, particularly for anyone interested in Virginia during the Civil War.

[Nadine]

I feel like this book should have been better than it was. The subject matter is very interesting--the story follows a young man in medical school in Virginia when the Civil War begins. He is quickly thrown into the deep end and must essentially become a doctor under very difficult conditions, simultaneously grappling with strained family relationships and a challenging romance. For some reason, though, I felt like the narrator really held me at arm's length and I wasn't able to care as much as I wanted to. I finished it, and found it to be well written and interesting, but I didn't find it to be emotionally gripping like I'd hoped.

[Michael Kucharski]

The Disagreement by Nick Taylor, predominately it takes place in Charlottesville at the Charlottesville General Hospital during the American Civil War. Even after finishing it, I am unsure if the title referred to the North and State struggle, John Alan Muro and his family or he and his fiancee Miss Lorrie Wigfal. It is nicely written and as both good characterization as well developed character identification. Being a big fan of Ken Burns’ Civil War and history in general, I enjoyed it but I am not sure just whom I might recommend it to.

[Alanna Angel]

I wanted to really like this book. As a physician, I was interested in medical training during a time very different from my own. The book had a little of everything- romance, science, war, family. Yet, I didn't feel the author developed any of those subjects in a rewarding way. I think part of the problem was I really did not like or relate to any of the characters. I did finish it, but I was happy for it to end. On a positive note, I actually listened to it on audio CD and the narrator did a good job with the voices.

[Sue Myers]

Interesting historical fiction from the viewpoint of a young medical doctor trainee attending the Univ. of Virginia during the Civil War. Medical students are pressed into service at the Charlottesville General Hospital and while there John Alan saves the life of a Northern lieutenant. He wins the affections of Lorrie Wigfall. Almost runs away to renew his friendship with Lt. Stone in Philadelphia at the end of the war. Terrible relationship with his family which was never resolved. Best part of the book was the description of medical conditions during the war.

[K]

Told from the viewpoint of a young Virginia doctor studying/working at the University of Viriginia during the civil war. The book starts as John Alan Muro celebrates his 16th birthday on the day Virginia secedes from the Union and follows him to UVA to study medicine where he is quickly pressed into service as a real doctor. A story of love, loyalty and sacrifice as a boy grows into a man during a time of war.

[Colin]

I received an Advanced Reading Copy of this book a while back while I worked at Borders and finally got around to reading it. It's a fairly light read, a story of a young Virginian who seeks to enter the medical profession against his father's wishes at the outbreak of the Civil War. Appropriately grim at some times, this was nevertheless an enjoyable enough book, good enough to help me get through a rainy day . . .

[Louis]

L’itinéraire d’un jeune Virginien qui fait des études de médecine pour éviter l’appel aux drapeaux pendant la guerre de sécession. Ses études seront nécessairement plus pratiques que théoriques. Un bon récit qu’entrave cependant une intrigue amoureuse controuvée qui n’ajoute strictement rien à l’intérêt de l’histoire et débouche sur un dénouement arrangé avec le gars des vues. J’ai tout de même apprécié l’angle d’approche de la guerre vue de l’infirmerie plutôt que du champ de bataille.

[Nicole]

Well written, fun to read. Good story, I like that this civil war book was completely different from others as it was written from the perspective of a medical student and had more to do with his personal growth than the war itself. Lots of crazy words i had to look up(which was interesting not annoying because i could still get the jist of it) so i would recommend reading on an ereader.

[Allen Jeffreys]

A very light, easy read of the story of a young man who entered the practice of medicine at the beginning of the Civil War and became a professional by the war's end There is the story of the relationships between the main character and various other characters who appeared throughout the novel.

[Nick Taylor]

I wrote this book.

[Christine]

for wahoos